Sliding screen doors are frequently located in high traffic areas, such as between a kitchen and a deck or between a recreation room and a backyard. People passing through such doors are often carrying something, such as a tray of refreshments, patio furniture, or sports equipment and therefore have difficulty closing the door behind them. To keep insects and debris from creeping inside the house, it is desirable to have a device that will automatically close the sliding door.
Many such devices for automatically closing sliding doors are known; however, these prior devices suffer from a combination of a number of deficiencies. These devices are generally complicated mechanisms that must be permanently installed about the door frame, aligned, and then calibrated to overcome the resistance of the particular door. Once installed, these mechanisms are difficult to bypass or temporarily defeat, making it hard to keep the door open on occasion when desired. Furthermore, many such devices obstruct the doorway with whatever member or cable pulls the sliding door closed, thereby increasing the opportunity for accident or injury.
What is needed is a device that will automatically close a sliding screen door that is not subject to these deficiencies. The present invention is directed to such a device.